Web of Lies
by snowskull123
Summary: In this universe Daniel is Danielle. A conspiracy starts to unravel itself at the SGC. Technology begins to go missing and some of their people are taken. The team is forced to take radical action to stop the enemy and save their people from a fate worse then death. This story is NOT in the Turn of Events universe.
1. Prologue

_NOTE:_

_Hello again! Sorry for such a long wait, but I've been very busy. I know I said that I'd have this story up within a week, but that 1 week quickly turned into about 3. So, I'm sorry, and I'm posting the prologue and the first chapter of the story at the same time as recompense. Enjoy!_

_! #$%^&_

_The woman was very pretty. She was about 19 years old and had dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and a light dusting of freckles across her face. But the man paid no attention to that. He was staring at her eyes. Eyes, incredible conductors of emotion. And her's were projecting shock, pain, defiance, desperation, and anger._

_"You have to stop." She said quietly, pleading with him._

_He stared at her in shock, "I can't. I'm helping you!"_

_"Not like this!" She backed up and dropped her gaze, "You have to stop. Or I will tell them."_

_"No."_

_"Yes!" She swiped at her eyes angrily, dismissing the tears as quickly as they arrived, "You can't do this anymore. You shouldn't have done it at all!"_

_He turned around, his back facing her, "I have to. I'm only helping you. I have been for months. And you were okay with it."_

_"I didn't know what you were doing to help me! Stop, or I'm telling them. I have no choice. I'm sorry."_

_He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, tears leaking out and slipping silently down his face. But just as silently, his eyes opened and his arm darted out, gently grasping a small object wrapped in cloth. Turning around to face her, he let the cloth drop away. The handle of the knife was very ornate, carved with beautiful ancient symbols. But it was the blade that made it truly beautiful. Seven inches long, silver, and curved in an imitation of a crescent moon, it practically glowed in the dim lighting of the room._

_"Then I'm sorry. I have no choice."_

_The sound of her scream was etched into his mind for years to come._

! #$%^&

NOTE 2:

So, very short, but I decided to go for short and mysterious...


	2. Capture and Escape

NOTE:

So, here's the first chapter. The first part is in Sam's POV, and the second is in Jack's. As always, I own nothing. Enjoy!

**! #$%^&**

"I can't believe it." Colonel O'Neill muttered.

"Well, you'd better believe it, Jack. And at least Teal'c didn't get caught this time." Dani sighed as she fidgeted with her bindings.

"This is, what, how many times?" He looked over to me, ignoring Danielle's optimism about Teal'c for the moment.

I looked over and answered, attempting valiantly to ignore the itch that had developed on my nose (scratching is kind of hard with your hands tied behind your back), "5 times this month, sir."

"You're kidding. The Goa'uld got us 5 times this month!?"

"Yes, sir. I can't really believe it either, to be honest."

"Well," he sighed, "This certainly sucks."

**"It depends whom you are asking."**

The tell-tale resonation of the arrogant Goa'uld voice made itself known, and I could hear the clicking of shoes coming up behind me.

**"What have we here?" **I could almost feel the smirk that surely came across the Goa'uld's face as she said it. I didn't dare turn around to confirm it. I rather liked my face without it being burnt off with a staff weapon, thank you very much.

"Prisoners, my lady." One of the Jaffa, her fist prime from the looks of the gold tattoo on his forehead, stepped forward to speak to the 'goddess' behind us, "They were found snooping around the device."

**"Oh, really."** The Goa'uld still had not come into view, which was quite strange, but I wasn't about to complain. The only good Goa'uld to look at is a dead one, as so eloquently put by Colonel O'Neill, **"Well then, since they are so interested, let's show them how it works, shall we?"** That didn't sound so good. But before I had time to process the implications of that particular order and as all of the Jaffa left the room to presumably get the device, the Goa'uld came into view. I froze. The host was not quite human. She was very pretty, but her skin was tinted red, her eyes the most startling green I had ever seen. Her ears were smaller than a normal human's, and her red hair, which was tucked behind them, fell to her waist. I had never encountered a race like her's before. I lifted my eyes to lock with the Goa'uld's, and she laughed,** "I see that you are startled by my appearance. Allow me to explain."**

"I will allow it." The colonel spoke up cheekily in response to the rhetorical statement.

Instead of the typical flashed eyes and ordering him to shut up in the form of a staff weapon to the kidneys, the Goa'uld simply smiled, **"Let me begin from the beginning. I am Sekhmet."**

We all turned to Dani, and she instantly responded, "The goddess of war, fire, vengeance, and also enchantments. Was sometimes known as 'the scarlet lady' because of her legendary thirst for blood."

Sekhmet's face curved into another smile, **"Very good, Doctor Jackson. And yes, I do know who all of you are. But that is beside the point. I had conquered a small, but very advanced city of people approximately 3 of your years ago. They were the only one's inhabiting the planet. I ruled over them for a moderate amount of time, and during that time a rebellion began. The people of the planet were, as I said before, very advanced, and smart enough the know that I am not an actual goddess. They rose up against me and despite the fact that I had confiscated all of their technology, they managed to kill quite a few of my Jaffa and my beloved, Ptah. The rebellion failed, of course, and they had to be punished. I killed all of them except for one, whom I took as host. She is the one I inhabit now. Having such a technologically advanced host has most definitely paid off, and I was able to develop some very intriguing pieces of technology. One of which you were captured studying. Now-" **The sound of the Jaffa suits clanking on the floor became louder and she smiled, picking up the pace of her explanation,** "I have been waiting for some test subjects, and I now have 3 humans who are at my disposal. I could torture you for information, sure, but what's the fun in that? I have no need for anything you may offer, unlike the other system lords, so you will be my laboratory test subjects."** And 8 Jaffa entered the room, four of them holding a device the size of a microwave on a golden stretcher-like thing, and the other 4 guarding them. The device was set carefully on the ground, and the Jaffa knelt, the first prime speaking.

"My Lady. The Dolor device, as requested."

She smiled, "Thank you. Set it here so that I may activate it."

The colonel leaned over to me, "Are you sure we're in the right universe, Carter? I could have sworn I just heard a Goa'uld-"

"…say thank you." I finished the thought, staring opened mouth at Sekhmet.

"This can't be right…" Dani said incredulously.

Colonel O'Neill smiled slightly, "Oh, but it is. Shockingly enough, it is."

She looked at him like he was insane for a moment, before speaking up, "No, no. The thing that the first prime called the device. He said Dolor device. That- that's Latin."

I turned to face Dani, flashing a quick look at Sekhmet to make sure she was still busy activating the device, "Latin for what?"

"Pain."

The colonel cleared his throat, "So your saying that we're about to become testers for something called the pain device?"

Dani nodded slowly, "Pretty much."

"Just checking."

Sekhmet pressed one final button on the device, and the top opened up to have three tubes rise up about a foot above the device. Three tubes of… something. Each was a different color, one brown, one dark red, and one black. If you looked close enough, the liquid inside seemed to be moving. Which was, as you can imagine, kind of unsettling, considering we were probably about the be injected with it.

And then movement caught in my peripheral vision. One of the Jaffa had spun his staff weapon and was aiming at… us.

"Dani! Sir! Look out!"

But the blast didn't hit us. It hit our chain bindings with impressive accuracy and completely obliterated them. Instantly I jumped up and lunged at the nearest Jaffa, the colonel and Dani doing the same. I glanced over and saw the Jaffa who had freed up reaching up and undoing the metal mask cover. As it retreated, I breathed a sigh of relief. Good to know Teal'c was alright. But my distraction was my downfall. I felt something slam into me and I was tossed to the ground, hearing the bone in my arm snap as I landed. Sharp, agonizing pain radiated through me and I staggered upright, clutching it to my chest. Delivering a kick to the head of the Jaffa who hit me, I spun around to see all the remaining Jaffa in the room laying on the ground, and Sekhmet laying in front of her throne, dead. My arm let out another lance of pain, and I gritted my teeth against the urge to scream, feeling my eyes begin to water.

"Damn it." I quickly swiped at my eyes, destroying all proof that there were tears there. A woman in the military showing weakness is not good at all. I had worked so hard to be accepted as a major and a woman, and that was not going to be shattered by some stupid broken arm.

"Sam, you okay?"

I focused on Dani, "Uh, ya."

The colonel arched his eyebrows, "Uh huh. Sure you are…"

"Really, sir, I'm fine. We should probably get moving though."

"Good idea." Dani nodded and grabbed a zat gun off the floor, "Think we should grab the Dolor device?"

"We really need a better name for that." Colonel O'Neill went over to it and shrugged, reaching to press a random button.

"Sir!"

"Jack!"

"O'Neill!"

But he pressed the button anyways, and the tubes quickly fell back into the box, the lid closing.

"Oh, relax. I saw Segment… Sekmint... whatever, press the button." The Colonel reached down and grabbed two handles of the stretcher the device was on, "Hey T, mind giving me a hand?"

Teal'c swiftly waked over and grasped the remaining two handles, raising the stretcher up, "We should proceed immediately. The remaining Jaffa have no doubt been alerted of our presence."

"Alright, then let's head out. Carter, take point. Dani, cover our sixes."

"Yes, sir." I raised my gun and grimaced against the pain as we started toward the door, "The 'gate should be close. All we have to do is get to the rings, and it's right there."

"This base is of an unusual design, but I have seen it before. The rings should be located in the room directly to the left of this room." Teal'c spoke up, and I veered left, pressing a few buttons on the control panel to open the door to the ring room. As they slid open, two Jaffa turned and raised their zat guns, but were quickly dropped by Dani and I. We swiftly jogged into the circle on the floor, avoiding the unconscious bodies, and I pressed the sequence of buttons to activate the rings. I jumped inside as they came down from the ceiling and engulfed us in a bright white light. Overcoming the usual dizziness that came from a ring transport, I glanced around the temple and stepped out of the rings, watching as Dani ran over and started dialing out.

"Wasn't that a little to easy?" I glanced around the temple suspiciously.

"Ya, well, let's not look gift horse in the mouth." The colonel glanced around the room quickly before adjusting his grip on the stretcher, moving closer to the gate as Dani sent our IDC.

"For what purpose would we look a horse in the mouth, O'Neill?"

The colonel opened his mouth to respond, but quickly shut it, "You know what, T. I'll explain later. Now let's get out of here before we get captured for the 6th time. I have no desire for Ferreti to win that particular bet." He gestured toward the now open and cleared 'gate.

I was able to hear Teal'c's reply of, "As you wish" before I was whisked away through the wormhole.

**! #$%^&**

"Sir, I can handle it." Carter piped up from her seat along the briefing table. After we had returned, it had taken forever to be medically cleared (compliments of Carter's broken arm) but we were finally done and in the middle of the debriefing.

"Major, I'm sorry. The pentagon has been putting an enormous amount of pressure on us to give area 51 more access to our projects. Once you brought it home, I had no choice but to contact them. The representatives should be here any second now. The best I could do was ask them to stay on the base when they conduct their research on this," he paused to consult his notes, "Dolor device. You will oversee the project, Major. But we have absolutely no authority over them, so tread lightly."

She nodded, but didn't look happy about it, "Yes sir."

I decided that maybe Carter needed a little backup with dealing with those pinheads, "General, I'll stay with Carter and the egg heads. I'll keep 'em in line."

The general turned to face me, "I'm sure that Major Carter can manage whatever you had planned."

"Sir, I would still like to be there. I don't like the idea of her having to deal with those assholes alone."

"Well, it's good to know that we're appreciated."

Two men was standing in the doorway to the briefing room. The taller one smirked as he walked in, both of them taking a seat.

"General Hammond, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Dr. Anderson Madrith and this is my colleague Dr. Rob Sayers."

The color drained from Dani's face. Her eyes widened and her breathing quickened. I narrowed my eyes at her, and she suddenly stood up, her chair rolling away from her.

"General," She said quietly, "Dr. Madrith can't be trusted." He voice was steady, but I could see her hands shaking minutely at her sides. Something was very, very wrong.

The general looked confused, "Dr. Jackson?"

Then Dr. Madrith stood up as well, "I didn't think you would recognize me, Dr. Jackson." His voice was ice cold, and so was his glare.

She drew in a sharp breath, "You underestimate me, Dr. Madrith."

He smiled bitterly, "Wouldn't be for the first time, now would it?"

"Oh, that's bull shit and you know it!" She said angrily.

"Oh, THIS is bull shit? Well, I guess you of all people would know."

"Me of all people? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you were the one who completely annihilated my trust!"

"I annialated YOUR trust?" She raised her eyebrows incredulously, "Then how the hell do you explain what you did? How is that not annihilating trust?"

"I didn't do anything I didn't have to."

She froze.

Everyone sucked in a breath.

And she smiled.

"You think you had to do that?" She smiled even wider, "You think that she had to die?" The smile stayed frozen on her face, but her eyes got increasingly colder, "You. Are. A. Complete. Son. Of. A. Bitch." She snarled, "You ended her for no good reason. All of this is your fault. Everything that happened then is on YOU."

His face was twisted in rage, and he took a step closer. They were nose to nose. And then the tension dissipated. Dani stepped back. She took a breath.

"General. It is my recommendation that Dr. Madrith not be able to come within a hundred miles of the SGC. He is a danger to every single man and woman serving on this base, and if you don't kick him out I will not hesitate to do so myself." Her voice remained completely level and almost close to monotone the entire time. And that was even more frightening then if she had screamed it.

What the hell was going on?

General Hammond sighed, "Dr. Jackson. I'm sorry I cannot get him off the base, but I can post a security detail on him at all times. My hands are tied, and Area 51 has authority over us at the moment. That's the best I can do."

She nodded shortly, "Yes sir."

"Good. Now that that's settled, let's get down to business. Sit down please, Dr. Jackson and Dr. Madrith."

They sat, not looking at each other. I shot Carter a look.

_What's going on?_

She got the message and shrugged a shoulder, _The hell if I know._

My eyes flicked to Dani and Madrith, _She ever mention him?_

With the slighted shake of her head I got what she was saying, _I know as much as you do._

Which was nothing. Notta. Squat. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

And I hated not knowing.

But I did know one thing.

We were in deep, deep shit.

**! #$%^&**

NOTE 2:

So, there it is! I know it's short, but it seemed like the right place to end the chapter, so I did. Anyways, I will promise nothing about the posting of the next chapter of this story or my other ongoing story Day of Redemption, sorry, but my schedule is erratic. Please review!


	3. Exposed

Sorry for the long wait, but this was the only time I could find to write. So, the first part is in Sam's POV, the second is from a different POV. As always, I own nothing. Enjoy!

**! #$%^&***

The sigh. A universal sign, but it can be portrayed in more ways then one. It can be sad, depressed. After you break up with someone or just realized you were forever stuck on some desert planet. Or bored, uninterested, sitting through one of the geology department's briefings or sitting on a barren moon on a two week baby-sitting trip with said geologists. Or it can be irritated and even resigned, like being stuck in an uncomfortable Goa'uld prison (then again, when are they ever comfortable?) or being stuck in your lab with with a scientist that your best friend is pissed off at and with another scientist that tries to flirt with you but only succeeds in briefly catching himself on fire.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Yep, there it was, another sigh.

He smiled slightly, "No problem, Major Carter. Your just lucky the fire didn't spread from his sleeve."

"And that new fire-dampening powder from P3X-947 is really helpful." I smiled and watched Dr. Sayers spit out a glob of the powder with a certain amount of guilty satisfaction.

"Yes it does." He nodded to me and started to walk off, but paused, "Oh, and Major?"

"Ya?"

"We're sending a clean up crew to get all the powder up and check your equipment. You'll have to stay away from your lab for the next, oh, maybe 4 hours."

My eyebrows shot up, "4 hours!?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's standard-"

"-operating procedure, ya." I sighed for the millionth time this hour, "Thank you, Lieutenant. Again."

"And again, no problem Major." With a small smile, he walked away.

I sighed again.

"Major Carter, I guess we'll just have to go get something to eat now won't we?"

"Um, I'm sorry?" I tuned to spot Dr. Madrith standing behind me.

"I heard we can't get access to your lab for the next few hours, might as well get food." He said, "Well… maybe after a shower. That powder stuff is now in places I will not be getting out anytime soon."

"Well, the powder has gone untested so far. And since the water had been turned off for the next day or two (nobody wanted to know how long that rat had been in the water pipes) and I think someone took my fire extinguisher, it was our only option. Lucky I had some in my lab." I rubbed a piece of my hair between my fingers and came away with white fingers, "And after we get checked out by Janet- er- Dr. Fraiser, we can get showered and go eat lunch."

"Sounds good."

"Oh, you have to remind me after we get out of the infirmary to grab Dani to eat lunch with us. If I don't force her to eat, she always forgets." My smile faded as his face went dark. Well, shit. _Nice thing to forget, Sam._

"I'll skip lunch today."

"Dr. Madrith-"

But he was already gone.

"Damn it." I muttered quietly. Now I had no way to weasel information out of him. I needed to poke around. I needed some sort of substantial information or I was going to go crazy (not saying that I wasn't crazy already, but I might go even more crazy). I needed anything! And at this point (after 5 hours of torture with the two men and no answers) I would do anything! Then my eyes strayed to Sayers. Oh crap. I had just set myself up for possibly the worst night of my life. I sucked in a breath and took a step toward him, but as he reached up and picked something out of his ear (and it wasn't powder, powder wasn't anywhere near an orange-ish color) I veered suddenly for the phone just out of Sayer's earshot. I quickly dialed.

_"__O'Neill"_

"Colonel!" I sighed (with relief this time) and closed my eyes, "Thank God you picked up."

"Carter, what's going on?"

"Sir…" I took a deep breath, "I, uh, may have found a way to get more information." The 'about what' was implied.

"That what are you waiting for?"

"Um, it, uh…"

"Spit it out, Carter."

"It's disgusting!" I said, crinkling my nose and discreetly glancing over at Sayers, "I mean, he just picked something out of his ear and wiped it on the wall! Who does that? He's been flirting with me all day, and he's horrible at it! I think I puked a little bit with that last pick up line."

"Hey! Carter, breathe."

I sucked in a deep breath.

"Okay. Carter, you have to take one for the team. We have to know what's going on, or we're both going off the rocker. Got it?"

I nodded, despite the fact that he couldn't see me, "Got it, sir."

"Good. Now go flirt."

He hung up as I made a face at the receiver.

"Gee, thanks sir." I muttered as I discreetly glanced over at Sayers again, "Okay, Carter." I said to myself, "Just a mission. Just another mission. You can do this." I had no choice, sadly. Very, very sadly. So, I put on a smile, brushed some powder out of my hair, and strutted over to Sayers. When he saw me, his eyes brightened and he straightened up.

"Major Carter! That was incredible, what you did. You saved my life! You saved all of our lives. You're a hero."

Oh, God.

"Thank you, doctor." _Hope my smile doesn't look too forced._

"Please, I told you, call me Robert."

"It's Sam." Another forced smile, "So, would you like to, you know-"

"What?" He leaned toward me greedily. Pig.

"-Get lunch after we go take a shower."

He grinned so wide, I thought his face would split open. But I couldn't figure out how getting lunch was that big a deal... Until I went back over my conversation.

"Oh! No, um, I mean, you know, SEPARATELY shower."

His smile only dimmed a little, "Right, of course. We'll get there."

I almost choked. And considering I wasn't drinking or eating anything, that's pretty impressive.

"Um…"

"SG-1 to the briefing room!"

"Walter, you're my hero." I said under my breath. I smiled at Sayers, "I hate to leave, but I have to go and find out what's going on. You understand." I batted my eyelashes. Ew.

He nodded vigorously and I fought the urge to run away, forcing myself to walk calmly to the elevator. Stepping inside as the elevator gave a DING and opened, I slammed my fist into the button, sighing in relief as the doors shut. Sure I wanted to know what was going on, but not much was worth that. That guy was stalker material, and the last thing I needed was one of those. But I was worried. Dani was usually not an angry person and the longest I had counted that she had held a grudge (against a human) was a month or two. She hadn't met Madrith in the years we had known her, so that would be 6-7 years ago or longer. She had held a grudge for that long? That didn't sound like Dani. And this person wasn't Dani. Danielle Claire Jackson was nice. She was kind and forgiving and supportive. She wasn't the person to cuss in front of the general, try and get someone kicked off the base, and hold this kind of grudge.

She was slowly drifting into the dark place. Last time she had done that, well, she had ended up in the gym kicking marines' asses (even though she was kind of a geek, she was extremely good at hand to hand combat). But it wasn't as much fun as it sounded. What she did was not your regular friendly competition. She had gone all out, almost worked herself to the breaking point. She had almost gone over the edge. I could not let that happen. Hell would freeze over before Danielle would get to that point. Screw trying to weasel information out of Sayers, I would just talk to Dani.

But that wouldn't do any good. Danielle had gone silent. She hadn't talked to the colonel, or me, or even Teal'c. This set off some serious alarm bells. Getting Dani to talk would be like playing with fire. And either the fire would snuff out, or it would explode. One of them would happen, I was sure of it. But it wasn't up to fate which one would occur. It was up to me. I could play with fire. I could control it. And my choice was clear. If a fire goes out, you can't start the same exact fire ever again. It's completely different. But if a fire expands and explodes, it can be controlled and contained. It can return to normal.

I knew that I could get her to come back from the dark place. But a wound must get worse before it get's better, like a burn. The pain is excruciating as it is treated, but then it heals. It gets better. There will always be a faint scar, but there's no pain. And we could get there. We would. But there was one thought in the back of my mind that would not be pushed aside. One thought that made me decide that maybe leaving this alone for the moment would be the best bet. Sometimes wounds don't heal. Infection sets in, and there's no saving the person. Death decides to swoop in and take control of the situation. And the person never gets better.

DING

I stepped off the elevator and walked up the briefing room. As I opened the door, my lip curled in disgust.

"Good to see you again, Major." He sneered at me.

I smiled coldly, "You too, Senator Kinsey."

"Well, since Major Carter was kind enough to join us finally, let's begin."

It took all my restraint not to flip him off, but I managed not to, sitting down without any rude hand gestures.

"Now," Kinsey started, meeting the general's, Dani's, Colonel O'Neill's, Teal'c's and my glares, "I've been having some serious concerns about how this facility has been run, and decided to pay you a visit. Let's start by discussing what has been done wrong. I suggest you get comfortable, this could take a while"

I sighed (in irritation this time) and did as he suggested, tuning Kinsey out within the first few seconds. He was right, for once. If I was going to be tortured, I might as well be comfortable.

—

Major Olander was stewing. He stomped down the halls in his dark thoughts, and nobody was stupid enough to get in his way. SG-1 had, yet again, brought in an invaluable piece of technology. His team had originally been assigned to the mission, but as soon as there was even a hint of active Goa'uld presence, SG-1 swooped in and stole the mission. They were such sharks, never letting any team do anything that might rival their winning streak. And the major hated them more then anything in that moment.

"- must be willing to do anything."

"I understand."

"You cannot betray the cause."

"I won't."

Major Olander stopped. He peeked around the corner and spotted 2 people. The woman he recognized as one of the people that had come in with Kinsey. The man had his back turned to him, but he wore different clothes then the base personnel.

"Okay. Now, we will take Danielle Jackson as she is driving home tonight. Your job is to get the device to us without getting caught. You must take it and meet us in the woods near the backdoor entrance to the base. I take it you know where that is?"

"I do."

"Very well."

"I do have a question, though." The man said.

There was a pause, then, "Yes?"

"Who do you work for? And why do you need the device?"

The woman chuckled, "There is no need to worry. After you prove your loyalty to us by bringing us the device and keeping our secret, then you will be fully brought into the fold. You will be the leader of the project, if you so choose." She gave a short laugh agin, "Remember: Revenge is a dish best served cold."

"Thank you."

"I am the one that should be thanking you." She paused, and then spoke again, "Welcome to the team, Dr. Madrith. It's a pleasure to have you."

Major Olander, sensing that the end of the conversation had been reached, quickly jogged away. He ran through the corridors, but then stopped at a sort of fork in the road. The hallway to the right lead to the general's office. The hallway to the left lead to nowhere in particular.

He took a deep breath, and walked left.

**! #$%^&***

So there it is! Hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments or suggestions, please click the button below! Thanks :)


	4. Taken

NOTE:

**READ THIS! I WAS FORCED TO CHANGE MY PEN NAME TO SNOWSKULL123**. Anyways, this is barely even a chapter, but I just wanted to post something small, just to assure you all that I was still out there writing. Anyways, this is in Sam's POV. Enjoy this very very small blip of writing!

! #$%^&*

Glass. Easily shattered. Delicate almost. But it simply took a small tap from a bullet for the car window to smash. It only took a small piece of glass brushing against my face for it to start bleeding. It only took a small tug from my hand to pull my gun out from the place it had been stashed.

To think it had only been minutes ago that I had been walking out of the conference room with Dani after Kinsey's lecture, agreeing that alcohol was needed immediately. We had changed into civvies, gotten in my car, driven out of the mountain, and a few minutes later we were far from any vigilant guard watching the surrounding area. That was the moment of truth.

The glass clattered to the floor. My nerves were singing with anger and blood was dripping from my arms. I fumbled for the doorknob and leapt out of the car. Scanning the area for the threat, I raised my weapon, sensing Dani coming up behind me doing the same, but only with a knife, her preferred weapon of choice.

A flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye had my firing my weapon at the person, two bullets in quick succession.

"Son of a bitch!"

A smile of satisfaction curled it's way onto may face until a cry from next to me had me dropping into a crouch next to a now unconscious Danielle. Firing a few more bullets, I spotted a few more of them dropping before a small prick on my neck made me reach down. My hand brushed against a piece of metal and I cursed quietly before the world began to swim.

"Shit."

Blackness began to swallow me and the men who attacked begin to close in around us. Before I knew it, I had drifted off into oblivion.

! #$%^&*

NOTE 2:

So that's it. For now. I promise to post more in the (hopefully) near future but I can't promise anything. And another reminder: **MY PEN NAME CHANGED TO SNOWSKULL123**. Please review. Until next time :)


	5. Exposure

NOTE:

Hello again. Sorry for the wait, but, as you probably have realized, my schedule is an absolute MESS. Anyways, this chapter is short but hopefully clears some things up. Also, by the way, this chapter is in the third person, not the first person. And another point: **I NEED A BETA FOR MY STORIES (DAY OF REDEMPTION AND WEB OF LIES). IF ANYONE WOULD BE WILLING TO EDIT MY STORIED BEFORE I POST THEM, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT SNOWSKULL4 . **I own nothing, as usual. Enjoy!

! #$%^&*

When Sam was a child, her and her brother used to get into the most intense staring matches. He would challenge her, and they would face off. At first, she always lost. He hung it over her head all the time. She got called a wimp, a pussy, a loser, a chicken, and a scaredy cat. That pissed her off. So she practiced. She stared in the mirror, practicing her best staring face. She mastered the art of the stare. You had to conjure up a face that portrayed just enough anger to frighten them, just enough power to make them loose confidence, just enough smug superiority to make them hesitate, and just enough cold indifference that made them feel unsure about themselves and their plans. After weeks of practice she challenged him. He laughed at first, but then it was the first time in her entire life that she won a staring contest.

When she got older, she laughed off all the times she practiced in the mirror and how serious she had taken the contests.

Now for the first time in twenty years, as she glared into the eyes of the man in front of her, she was grateful for those childhood staring contests.

The man had brown eyes, and that was all she cared to notice in that moment. She bore into his gaze with her sharp blue eyes with a concentration and control that had him glancing away and shuffling back. She smirked as he motioned for the guard holding her back to release her. When her arms were released, Sam brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and stood up.

"Hey!"

The man turned back to her.

"Why do you want me? Why do you want us?"

A smirk found it's way onto his face as the smirk melted off her's, "Why, my dear, you are my test subject." His smirk grew wider, "And if the doctor will allow me, perhaps I can even play with you a little more… intimately."

The suggestive tone of his voice and the glint in his eyes had Sam swallowing bile. She shook her head to clear it and tried to feel confident, calling back all those times she had stared in the mirror. She held out her arm. put her middle finger up and managed to sound so harsh that it would have made Colonel O'Neill proud.

"Go f*ck yourself, shit head." She snarled.

His smirk only dimmed slightly, "Sweetheart, I would much rather do you."

He looked her up and down, making Sam swallow and push back the urge to cross her arms over her chest. She stood completely still until he and the guard left.

She let out a shaky unsteady breath, but that was as much as she could show. She glanced discreetly at the small camera in the corner they didn't think she would notice. She couldn't show them weakness. None at all.

Then Sam was left standing there. With no plan, no brilliant thoughts, and no clue what was going on. The only thing that brought her comfort was the fact that Dani was alright. Still unconscious for some reason, but alright.

For some reason the both of them had been placed in glass cylindrical shaped cells. When the man left, he had placed his hand inside the outline of a square on the glass wall, a section of glass sliding down into the ground, then back up into place. The cells were in a room with smooth white plastic-looking walls. There were three of the cells in the room, but only two were occupied.

Sam glanced over at Dani, just to assure herself that she was okay. Her chest rose up and down in steady rhythm with her breathing. Sam sighed in relief. If anything happened to her…

But that was the thing. Sam couldn't do anything. She was completely helpless. She knew how to get out of the cell, but she couldn't. She knew what she had to do, but not how to do it. She had to get out of her cell and away from this place with Dani before that man… Sam shuttered and crossed her arms across her chest for a feeling of security. She had to get out. Before she became a test subject, a lab rat, or a victim of something far worse.

Then she saw the door on the other side of the room open. Just a small flicker in her peripheral vision, but it had her whirling around as quickly as she could. Four people holding something between them. Two in white lab coats and two in dark outfits that, if Sam had to guess, she would say were military. One of the white lab coats was the man from earlier. She swallowed, but that only made her angrier. She stood straight near the glass of her cell and glared at them in what she hoped was a menacing way. The man winked at her, causing her to narrow her eyes further.

They walked up to Danielle's cell and he pressed his hand to it, the slab of glass sliding into the floor just long enough for the four of them to step inside. They set the object down and Sam got a closer look at it. It was… the dolor device. They had it. It was here. The dolor device, also known as the pain device. And Sam and Dani were about to be test subjects for it in an extremely illegal project. A soldier stepped up to Dani and slapped her right across the face. Sam could see her jerk, then gasp as she woke up. The female scientist pressed a button on the device, three of the tubes rising up. She waved her hand around, as if trying to decide the perfect one. She ended up plucking up the one that had rose the highest. As soon as she touched it, Sam saw a single nasty looking needle shoot out of the end of the tube. Sam found see Dani protesting. They were about to put it into her. No. Sam couldn't let that happen. She screamed and pounded against the glass of her cell, yelling profanity and threats. They barely spared her a glance. The two military held their thrashing prisoner down, and the scientist jammed the needle into Dani's arm.

Time didn't slow down, or speed up. Nothing magical happened. Other then the scream, everything was completely normal.

But her scream, that was something of incredible pain and magic. Danielle did nothing for a few moments as the moving liquid was shot into her. There was silence and complete stillness.

Then she gasped and her chest rose with the breath. She froze. And she screamed. Her chest deflated slowly. Sam could feel it in her bones. She felt vibrated, moved.

And it stopped. Dani's eyes flew open again, and there was no movement for a second, until she drew a single, shaky breath in. Everyone in her cell had backed away from her. The man quickly raised his hand and pressed it to the wall, the door sliding down and sliding back into place as soon as they had cleared, leaving Danielle laying on the floor, her breathing harsh.

"Dani!" Sam pressed her hand against the glass, "Dani?"

There was no answer.

And Sam's door slid open, the scientist stepping in with the new tube already in her hand.

"No." Sam muttered, "No. Get the hell away from me!"

The woman paid no attention, only beckoned a security officer. He stepped inside and before Sam could blink, had her slammed against the wall. Her breath knocked out of her, Sam wheezed as the woman calmly stepped up and jammed the needle into her arm.

Sam felt nothing at first. Only a slight tingle that simply tickled a little bit. The officer released her and they both backed away quickly out of the still open door. It shut before Sam could think to escape out of it.

But then sam felt something. A prickling in her fingertips. She closed her eyes. Something… felt different. Something had changed. But then a blinding pulse in her head left her crumpling to the floor, gasping for breath. Her breathing harshened, and she faintly heard talking just outside her cell. She struggled to interpret it.

"-for phase two. Prepare them."

And Sam fell into unconsciousness.

! #$%^&*

NOTE 2:

So that's it until next time. Reminder: **I NEED A BETA FOR MY STORIES (DAY OF REDEMPTION AND WEB OF LIES). IF ANYONE WOULD BE WILLING TO EDIT MY STORIED BEFORE I POST THEM, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT SNOWSKULL4 . **Thanks :)


	6. Job Offer

NOTE:

Hello! I had some extra time, so I decided to write this small extra chapter explaining a new character that will be extremely prominent in future chapters. Also, **I NEED A BETA FOR MY STORIES. IF YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO EDIT MY STORIES PLEASE EMAIL ME AT SNOWSKULL4 (GMAIL).** As always, I own nothing but my new character. Enjoy!

! #$%^&*

"Doc, over here."

Dr. Ember Winter tilted her head toward the noise, setting the microscope slide down carefully, "Just a sec."

"Doc, NOW."

The tone in the lab assistant's voice made her freeze for just a moment. She slowly turned around, taking a few steps around her station and toward the door, "What's wron…" She trailed off at the sight before her.

The security guard stationed at the door lay crumpled on the floor. Her eyes moved up, and saw a pair of combat boots, legs, torso, arms… and the barrel of a gun. She tilted her head toward Parker, her lab assistant.

"Go grab those blood samples out of the centrifuge for me, will you?"

"But, they're not ready-"

"Go!" Ember's sharp tone had the assistant scurrying away. She took a breath and snapped her gloves off calmly, disposing of them in the hazardous waste bin, "I assume you've disabled the cameras."

The man gave a nod.

"Then put that away." She gestured almost disdainfully toward the weapon, "You're a government funded organization, I still don't understand why you have to be so secretive and break into test labs. Why not just ask?"

"Dr. Winters, as I have told you before, we are a secret and unfunded faction of a government organization."

"Yes." She said blandly, "A very sophisticated way of saying illegal."

He tipped his head, saying nothing.

"You're name?"

"Major Reed."

"Well, Major Reed, you can tell General Rice that I have no interest in your dealings." She started reaching for another pair of gloves, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things I need to be doing."

"Dr. Winter, my orders do not come from General Rice."

She froze in the process of putting the new pair of gloves on, "And who are they coming from?"

"A civilian director of a high-prority project."

Sarcasm dripped from her voice, "Could you be less specific?"

He didn't seem to react at all to her attitude, "Dr. Madrith."

She frowned, and threw away the pair of gloves she had grabbed, "I don't recognize the name."

"He is an… archaeologist." He said with a note of condescension in his voice, "Which is why we are in need of your expertise, Dr. Winters."

"Well why," She crossed her arms, "would you possibly need an experimental epidemiologist _this_ time?"

"That information is-"

"Classified, ya." She shook her head, "And if I agree to do it?"

"You will be fully read in and placed into a position of high power in the project."

"Will I be able to override this archaeologist?"

He nodded, "Yes."

"Test subjects."

"Two are already obtained. Both female, late 20s early 30s. The experiment was begun approximately 2 hours ago, at 17:00 hours."

"You began the experiment without a specialist?" She raised her eyebrows and shook her head, "I need to have a talk with this Dr. Madrith."

He took a small step forward, "Are you agreeing?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Come with me."

"Ah, wait." She held up a hand, "What about Parker back there?"

"He may come."

"No." She shook her head, "He has too many morals. You with kill him or wipe his memory, whichever you prefer."

He pulled out his gun, "Excuse me, doctor."

Ember nodded and he walked deeper into the lab. There was a short yell and a muffled popping noise. She watched as Major Reed walked back toward her, unscrewing the silencer from his gun.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded, and she lead him toward the lockers. She walked inside without a word and wrapped up her white lab coat as she grabbed her backpack, stuffing her coat inside it. Ember pulled off her company ID, hesitated, the tossed it on the floor. She stepped back into the hallway and nodded to Reed.

"I'm parked just outside the building." He said.

She nodded and was lead to a simple inconspicuous black car. The car chirped, and she slid into the passenger side gracefully. Once he was inside as well, he locked the doors and slid a pair of sunglasses on, handing her a ball cap. She shook her head as she tucked the cap securely over her long black hair.

"Wow. You really take being inconspicuous seriously, don't you."

"Yes. Make sure your cap is low over your face."

Ember sighed, but complied all the same, wiggling the cap down a few more inches.

The ride was silent, him handing hr a folder and telling her to read it just about summing up their communication for the trip. She read it, hen stared out the window.

Ember wasn't sure why the organization were recruiting her again, the last time she had seen anyone related to the agency, she and told them to fuck off. But then again, they did screw her over. She thought over why she was doing this job in the first place. Right, because she was dying to get an actual interesting case, not just drool over them on her computer. And also, she wanted to give this Dr. Madrith a good ass-whipping. What did he think he was doing, starting an experiment early? Ember was baffled about what could have possibly been going through his tiny little pea-sized brain at the time.

She was excited. Sure, she felt a little bad for Parker the lab assistant, but he was just one casualty. By the end of her experiment, either that number would stay the same or would notch up by two people. Yep, it was already her experiment, and she wanted everyone to know it. Especially the archeologist. She could already tell their would be a pissing match in her future, a fight for the upper hand. An archaeologist running a scientific, and more specifically, an experimental epidemiological project? The organization had to have promised him the position because of one of two reasons. A) They could be using him for some sort of translation on an artifact or something, or the much more likely B) He had a grudge, and they were exploiting it.

The organization was very good at finding grudges. That was how they recruited Ember in the first place, after all. Everyone had some sort of grudge and no matter how well hidden or how long ago, they would find it. And if this guy wanted revenge, Ember was going to have to fight him tooth and nail for control. And, by God, she would succeed.

"Doctor?"

She turned, surprised, toward the Major, "Yes?"

"We're here."

Ember glanced out the window and, sure enough, he was right. A warehouse looking place loomed in front of them, dirt and dust swirling around. A single booth stood in front of a small road that lead to the warehouse. They slowly drove up. The man on duty looked bored.

"Identification." He sighed and glanced up briefly.

Major Reed pulled out a card and flashed it at the man. Ember could have sworn she saw the words "Area 51" printed neatly along the bottom. That would make sense, with the strange experiments, the secrecy… what was she thinking? Ember shook her head and chalked that train of thought off to temporary insanity.

The guy nodded and vaguely waved toward the building. Reed stepped on the gas and we drove around the building to the back. Ember blinked. There were a shocking amount of cars parked in a sort of makeshift parking lot. Reed drove smoothly into a spot labeled "G. Reed" and shifted the car into park. Taking the keys out of the ignition he stepped out of the car, Ember following his lead.

She was lead to a door that slid open as they approached. They stepped into an old and creaky-looking elevator, and he pressed the second to last button, the elevator giving a weak, and frankly pathetic ding as it closed. Honesty, Ember was a little afraid of what their facility looked like this time. Last time it had been fine. Not great, but not too shabby. This entire place looked like every single person had decided to trash the place then curl up and die (leaving the dead-body smell around for Ember to enjoy).

But as the elevator dinged open again, Ember stepped out into a whole different world.

The floors and walls were clean, not a spec on them. Every single wall was colored white if it wasn't glass. Machines and scientific equipment whirled and beeped left and right. People in dark military looking outfits flitted around along with the white-coat wearing scientists.

Reed smirked, "Welcome, Dr. Winters. If you don't mind, we'd like to get you started right away."

A slight nod from her was the only indication that she had heard him. He shook his head and grabbed her elbow, leading her through the room, "Scientists." He muttered, rolling his eyes.

After they exited the room and her attention was redirected, she jerked her elbow out of his grasp, "Asshole." She muttered.

Reed ignored her, knocking on a silver door. It swung open, and Reed sauntered inside, gesturing for her to join him.

The room was a normal office… if you ignored the incredible technology scattered about and the small TV screens that littered the room, showing security camera footage from outside and inside the complex alike, including feeds of the laboratories and test subjects.

A man was facing away from both of them, staring at one of the screens. A brown haired test subject, judging by what Ember could see.

"Dr. Madrith." Reed said gruffly, "I have Dr. Winters here."

The man turned around. He had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes to match. He didn't look that much like the stereotypical archaeologist, but you couldn't be if you wanted to work for this organization.

"Dr. Winters, a pleasure."

Ember nodded, "So… what do we have here?" She twirled around in a circle, taking in the room again before facing Madrith again, "If I am to understand correctly, you found a container for some sort of mechanical virus and decided to test it, only calling me in after you started the experiment. Why is that, Dr. Madrith?" She titled her head and smiled cold smile, "I was told you were an archaeologist, not an epidemiology and virology expert."

She could almost hear his teeth grinding together, "I was… eager to begin the experiment before we could be compromised."

"Well," Ember started, "This place would be pretty easy to break into by the looks of the security you guys have."

Madrith frowned, "What? Oh, no. That security booth is just for cover. We have state of the art cameras, as you can see here," He gestured around expansively, "And also scanners and weapon detectors through every door. We also have facial recognition software and a few other types of scanners that are… well, of no concern to you scanning every inch of this place and the surrounding area. Also, our security staff is exceptional."

Ember smiled and nodded. Idiot. She had just gotten everything she would ever need to know if she needed to get out of here quickly and without being detected which, by the suspicious nature of the organization and her past experience, was a highly probable option.

"Would you like to took at the data we have collected?"

She snapped into scientist mode again, "Very much so. I will also need full access to all your laboratories, technology, and staff. You brought me in, so I run this show."

He nodded, sensing he would get nowhere arguing.

"I also need to be able to access the test subjects at any time."

"That can be arranged.

"The file also detailed a phase two, essentially just testing the subjects with regular medical equipment. I would like to add some more… in-depth tests."

"Well-"

She interrupted him, "You want to find out what this substance does, don't you?"

"Well, yes but-

"Then stay the hell out of my way and let me do my job. Capeesh?"

He nodded, his jaw tightened and seeming very unhappy about it.

"Excellent." Ember smiled and felt her eyes glittering in excitement, "Now, let's get started, shall we?"

! #$%^&*

NOTE 2:

Ok, so that's it for probably the next week or two. Hope you liked it (if you did, please review!). Also, **I NEED A BETA FOR MY STORIES. IF YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO EDIT MY STORIES PLEASE EMAIL ME AT** **SNOWSKULL4 (GMAIL). **Anyways, until next time. Thanks :)


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